Joshua Fischman

  • Professor of Law

Josh Fischman rejoined the faculty as professor of law in 2016 after previously serving on the faculty from 2008 until 2012. His research interests include law and economics, empirical methods, judicial decision-making and criminal sentencing. He was previously a professor of law at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, an assistant professor of economics at Tufts University and a visiting professor at Duke Law School.

Fischman earned a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a J.D. from Yale and an A.B. in mathematics from Princeton. He has published articles in journals such as the Journal of Law and Economics; the Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization; the American Law and Economics Review; the Journal of Legal Studies; the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies; and the University of Pennsylvania Law Review.

Education

  • Ph.D.
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    2006
  • J.D.
    Yale Law School
    1999
  • A.B.
    Princeton University
    1994

"Politics and Authority in the U.S. Supreme Court," 104 Cornell L. Rev. 1513 (2019).
Article

"How Many Cases are Easy?"
SSRN

"The Circular Logic of Actavis," 66 Am. U. L. Rev. 1 (2016).
Article | HeinOnline (PDF)

"Do the Justices Vote Like Policy Makers? Evidence from Scaling the Supreme Court with Interest Groups," 44 J. Legal Stud. S269 (2015).
Article

"Interpreting Circuit Court Voting Patterns: A Social Interactions Framework," 31 J.L. Econ. & Org. 808 (2015).
Article

"The Economic Perspective on Sentencing," 46 Loy. U. Chi. L.J. 345 (2014) (symposium contribution).
Article

"Measuring Inconsistency, Indeterminacy, and Error in Adjudication," 16 Am. L. & Econ. Rev. 40 (2014) (lead article). 
Article

"Reuniting ‘Is’ and ‘Ought’ in Empirical Legal Scholarship," 162 U. Pa. L. Rev. 117 (2013).
Article

"Racial Disparities, Judicial Discretion, and the United States Sentencing Guidelines" (with Max M. Schanzenbach), 9 J. Empirical Legal Stud. 729 (2012).
Article

"Estimating Preferences of Circuit Judges: A Model of Consensus Voting," 54 J.L. & Econ. 781 (2011) (lead article).
Article | JSTOR

"Do Standards of Review Matter? The Case of Federal Criminal Sentencing" (with Max W. Schanzenbach), 40 J. Legal Stud. 405 (2011).
SSRN | Article

“What Is Judicial Ideology and How Should We Measure It?” (with David Law), 29 Wash. U. J.L. & Pol’y 133 (2009).
SSRN | HeinOnline (PDF)

Faculty in the News

Cynthia L. Nicoletti, Putting Secession and Jefferson Davis on Trial With Cynthia Nicoletti (Washington’s Library)

Kevin Cope, Who Would Give Up Civil Liberties To Combat a Pandemic? (WINA Radio)

Ashley S. Deeks, Prosecuting Purposeful Coronavirus Exposure as Terrorism (Lawfare)

Richard C. Schragger, Deadline for Northam To Sign Statues Bill Looms (The Daily Progress)